Planning for Wisconsin's LA Swing Was No Easy Task

LOS ANGELES – The addition of four championship-level athletic programs expanded the Big Ten conference from coast to coast, adding a new dimension and competitiveness to college sports’ new super conference.

It brought more of a headache for Marc VandeWettering.

“It creates some new hurdles,” VandeWettering said. “I’ve been here a handful of years, and you get familiar with the places you go, and all them being quick in-out trips. This feels more similar to a multi-team event over the holidays or an NCAA Tournament where you have longer stays, more meals, and more people coming along. It’s different for a Big Ten regular season trip.”

The Kaukauna, Wis., native wears many hats for Wisconsin as its chief of staff of basketball operations, but nonconference scheduling is his big job during the summer, and organizing team travel is one of the top priorities during the season.

Entering his eighth year in the program, VandeWettering has most campus trips down to a science. Leave for the city the day before the game, head for home right after, and rely on the same vendors and hotels that have taken care of them in past years.

VandeWettering deals with everything from who gets on the team bus or plane to who stays at the hotel, who caters the team meals, and who gets game tickets. It’s a lot to deal with an overnight trip, let alone one that will span a week.

So, adding Oregon, Washington, UCLA, and USC into the fold this past summer has required more than the usual prep work for VandeWettering and his staff with No.24 Wisconsin (14-3, 4-2 Big Ten) on its first West Coast swing, playing USC (11-6, 3-3) at the Galen Center tomorrow afternoon and UCLA (11-6, 2-4) at Pawley Pavilion Tuesday night.

All 18 Big Ten men’s basketball directors of operations share a spreadsheet they can access that gives details on travel, hotel, and arena accommodations in their respective city. With no guidelines on travel given by the Big Ten, how each school gets to the venues and where they stay is entirely up to the discretion of people like VandeWettering.

“With these new schools, how we’re going to travel there is a topic of conversation we lean toward when we get a chance to catch up,” VandeWettering said. “Iowa was here a few weeks ago, I talked to Kyle Denning pre-game and we talked through different things about where they were practicing, where they were staying, all those little details. With them being on the front end of us being out there, it’s nice for them to give us the lay of the land before we get there and know what we’re walking into.”

Wisconsin started planning this trip as soon as the staff got their hands on the schedule in September, only a few days before it was released to the public. Booking flights and hotels was simple enough but scheduling them for what days became the topic of conversation.

Because of the flight’s length, duration of the stay, and game times (noon Pacific Saturday and 6:30 p.m. Pacific Tuesday), flying in the day before and leaving on a red-eye after wasn’t ideal. After conversations with head coach Greg Gard and strength and conditioning Jim Snider, the Badgers decided to leave yesterday to get acclimated to the environment. With UW not scheduled to play again until a home game Sunday, the staff felt it’d be best to get a full night’s sleep Tuesday and return Wednesday early evening.

“With that game on Sunday, we felt that was best for us and the team to get us most ready for that game,” VandeWettering said.

There was also the matter of what to do with the amount of free time the players have between games and where to secure a practice facility. VandeWettering said they decided to switch hotels during the week, moving from near USC’s campus to Beverly Hills and UCLA’s campus to eliminate some traffic concerns and break up the monotony of living in the same hotel room for seven days.

Finding gym space was a bigger hassle. The Badgers had to be flexible for their Friday practice at USC’s Galen Center due to a men’s volleyball game later that night. UCLA’s Pawley Pavilion was equally limited with availability for practices and a shootaround. VandeWettering said he even reached out to the LA Clippers to see about availability of their new practice facility but that wasn’t available due to a game day.

“We had to figure out what was the next best space,” VandeWettering said. “We ended up going back to UCLA and taking its practice facility on Sunday. There is a lot of flexibility and things you have to work through with the different contacts. Getting out there that extra day early allows us to get settled and not rush from anything to get to those early practices. It allows us to get into both facilities ahead of time, which gives us a little familiarity with each arena being the first time out there.”

Lengthy stays aren’t new for Wisconsin. The Badgers have stayed on the road for multiple road games periodically over the last four seasons, including flying from Michigan to Rutgers last season. VandeWettering said the biggest takeaway from those trips was to try and limit time in the hotel room, so the Badgers are scheduled to do some community service work and possibly attend an LA Clippers game.

“You got to make sure the day is broken up as much as we can,” VandeWettering said. “It gives guys a different vibe, a different energy to get out moving a little bit. There are things we’ve learned along the way and that’s one of the big ones to keep guys fresh and engaged.”

As if dealing with the logistics of a long regular-season trip to an unfamiliar part of the country was tough enough, the Badgers have kept watch on the devasting fires affecting the Los Angeles area. Thirty different fires have sparked since then, and while 26 have been extinguished, the Palisades Fire — the largest of three major fires ravaging Los Angeles County to the Northwest – burning across 23,713 acres and just 23 percent contained.

The Eaton Fire – the most destructive fire in Southern California history – is 55 percent contained as of Thursday. At least 25 people have died, and thousands of structures have been destroyed.

After various professional and college sporting events were postponed last weekend and an NFL playoff game was moved out of state, USC beat Iowa Tuesday night in its first home game since the fires. UCLA is scheduled to play the Hawkeyes on campus tonight, not far from where the Palisades Fire continues to rage.

“There’s a level of concern of something I’ve had to be tracking on for the last week or so,” VandeWettering said. “We need to be ready to adapt and adjust. We’ve had pretty consistent conversations with the Big Ten and people at UCLA who are on the ground giving us information. They’ve been super helpful and reassuring us that they’re good.”

After the UCLA women moved its Wednesday game to Long Beach State, VandeWettering said the Badgers are preparing for the contingency of their game being relocated.

“We’re ready to adjust,” VandeWettering said. “The safety of everyone out there continues to be top priority. Getting these games in is of the utmost importance for us, the league, and all the schools involved, but we want to make sure we do it right.”

Whenever UW is off-campus, VandeWettering must be on his toes. More than once in his tenure he’s had to deal with flight issues after games, causing delays and scrambles. It’s only when he’s on his drive back to the Kohl Center that he affords himself a moment … before thinking about the next road trip around the corner.

“When I can see that last bus is there ready to pick us up on the way to Kohl Center,” VandeWettering said, “that’s when I can exhale and say we pulled it off.”

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